Hello,My first post (Introduction) got approved today, so I would like to post something to keep the ball rolling (i.e. to prove that I am a HUMAN!). I would like to purchase (or download) a very beginner book for reading Greek. I have downloaded all of the selections here on Textkit, and I am so thankful they are here; however, I am hoping to find something extremely basic, like something a child would read. This may be an impossibility, but is there something out there for the extreme beginner, like me, who is nearing the half-way mark of first year Greek?Thank you so much for your time,TJ

Minoan Sun Goddess wrote:I am hoping to find something extremely basic, like something a child would read. This may be an impossibility, but is there something out there for the extreme beginner, like me, who is nearing the half-way mark of first year Greek?

χαῖρε, φιλτάτη!

What makes a Greek textbook "basic?" 1. Information about the Greek language is limited and kept simple. 2. The reading exercises are easy and repetitive.

Using this criteria, the two most basic textbooks I can think of are Machen's New Testament Greek for Beginners and Kendrick's the Greek Ollendorff. Machen will only prepare you to read the easier portions of the Greek New Testament. You might find Kendrick frustrating because he does not include a glossary for the vocabulary.

Both start off with easy stories and get harder as they go through ( and hopefully by the time you get to the hard ones they won't be so hard).They are essentially adptions from Greek writers but they nicely done and are short and so easily digestable.

I guess it all depends on how much you've learnt during these six months.

Assuming a slow paced progression, finding readable stories at this level might be hard. One solution could be to use the key of basic composition manuel (here for example). Thus you have a supply of easy, short sentences to read. The drawback is of course that the first exercises are not continuous stories and therefore it might not be very enjoyable. To avoid this maybe you could also have a look at Frost or both books by Sidgwick, First Greek Writer key and Greek Prose Composition key.

As far as stories are concerned, I'd like to mention Chambers, The Greek war of independence. It narrates, in Attic Greek, the Greek war of independence (1821-1827) and, as it was meant to be used as a first Greek book, it provides notes, a grammatical summary and a glossary at the back of the book. I found it an enjoyable read but perhaps it will be too hard at your level.

Edit. There is also Edward's Salamis in easy Greek. The author mentions it was written written with (1913) 2nd year students of Greek in mind but maybe you'll find it suitable now or in some weeks/months.

I found a book titled "Easy Greek Reader" by Evelyn Abbott on Google books. It's free to download. As a relative beginner, I've been able to read some of the selections, using, of course, a dictionary alongside.

A couple of the suggestions above (especially the "Salamis in Easy Attic") are well worth considering. I can point you to the site below (collected by another forum member, I believe) which you might find very useful. Browse through the titles and check out any that speaks to your needs; I am sure you will be able to find something.

Thank you all so very much! This is wonderful! I took one week off of studying (back to school ) and man, not studying my Greek for one week has put me back. I will never do that again. Just wanted to say thank you. I will look into all of the suggestions

Shenoute wrote:As far as stories are concerned, I'd like to mention Chambers, The Greek war of independence. It narrates, in Attic Greek, the Greek war of independence (1821-1827) and, as it was meant to be used as a first Greek book, it provides notes, a grammatical summary and a glossary at the back of the book. I found it an enjoyable read but perhaps it will be too hard at your level.

This is really rather good. I have only just started and he does say it will get harder so it will get too hard for me at some point but for now it is easy and absorbing.